Indonesia Woos Jokowi Netherlands for Investment in Maritime

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has invited the Netherlands to invest in Indonesian infrastructure projects, particularly those that support Jokowi’s maritime sector development program, reports the Jakarta Post.

In the maritime sector, the president lauded the Dutch government for its interest to help Indonesia achieve its maritime axis vision. The vision was realized by developing maritime clusters including fisheries, ship development, infrastructure and marine resources.

“I invite Dutch companies to be involved in the construction of deep sea ports in eastern Indonesia,” Jokowi said in a statement.

He further said the Netherlands is one of Indonesias main partners in the trade and investment fields. However, trade between the two countries declined to US$4.22 billion in 2015 from $4.89 billion in 2014.

Jokowi has travelled to the Netherlands this week to meet with King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and the Prime Minister, Mark Rutt. He is the first leader from his country to visit the Netherlands since former President Abdurrahman Wahid visited in 2000.

Indonesia and the Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in various sectors, including maritime and education, during a bilateral meeting.

The Dutch government supports Indonesias vision to become the worlds maritime axis and agrees that sea, bay and ocean are the future for all sides concerned.

Dutch Infrastructure and Environment Minister Melanie Schulz said the Dutch government is very happy with its sea management effort. "It is the pride of the Dutch government to show how to manage sea without destroying the environment," he said.

The maritime axis plan, first announced during Jokowi’s 2014 presidential election campain, aims to boost fisheries, ship construction, infrastructure and marine resource clusters as well as human-resource capacity building through vocational training programs.

The president then visited the Port of Rotterdam one of the world’s busiest and oldest ports. He then traveled to meet with twenty chief executives from Dutch companies, attending a discussion on the maritime and water management sectors.

The president, along with fifteen Dutch company heads also attended an Indonesia-Dutch business forum that was held at the Amrath Kurhaus Grand Hotel.